Chapter Text
Eridanus Chapter: Act I
Lesson in Threes
Caelus curled his fingers around his sword, adjusting his grip a few times when the hilt fit wrong against the calluses on his palm. A deep, sweet-sounding voice echoing instructions like the tune of a bard’s song while he shifts his fingers lower than the cross guard but higher than the pommel. Not too tight but also not too loose, his hand molding comfortably to the wood.
Once he was certain he’d perfected it, he scooted backward and trained his gaze on his opponent, then cleaved through the air. The wooden blade smacked against packed straw sending an uncomfortable tremor through his arms but he drew back his shoulders then swung again, and again.
Soon, the vibrations settled and his arms didn’t wobble or dangle with every strike. He inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with air until they strained against his ribs then brought the sword down for one last repetition. Caelus felt as if he could rend the dummy in two with sheer strength alone, cursing at how close his anger got to overcoming his senses.
Then, he noticed it.
A sliver of the dummy’s straw gullet dampened in color as hoarfrost crept up its center, narrowly meeting his sword’s edge til he lurched backward in a graceless stumble. Heel over heel, the sound of his feet slapping against the floors hardly registered with how loud his blood pounded.
“Very, very good,” a familiar accented voice complimented from behind with the sound of applause. Caelus whipped his head around toward the training hall’s entrance where a tall, well-dressed man leaned forward then hopped down from his perch atop an assortment of crates with holes in their frames. He strolled over, boot heels tapping rhythmically though his steps were so light that the floors didn’t so much as creak beneath him. “Most recruits tend to miss vital clues to their surroundings while in battle. If you would have struck it, you’d be chipping your sword out of an ice block til sunrise.”
Caelus’ cheeks burned as the man swept past, a knowing yet bemused look in his starry blue eye. With one half-step, he turned sharply then leant against the dummy, elbow propped atop its shoulder.
“Seems all of the hilichurls and stationary ruin guards you’ve practiced with paid off,” he quipped. A smile, deceptively lazy curled his lips while his cheek rested against the back of his hand.
Don’t rise to the bait, Caelus reminded himself. For a moment, he thought to try and outlast him. Watching hoarfrost melt and drip off greenish-yellow strands of straw was terribly boring but far better than confronting what he’d put off for a night and a half. A metallic ping clipped his thoughts short as a glimmer of gold lit up at the corner of his eye, sparkling somewhere above his line of vision. Tipping his chin up, he scarcely caught the outline of the triquetra and realized his misstep when the coin was snatched out the air mid-descent. Defeated in this battle of attrition, Caelus lowered his sword til the tip brushed against his calf and let his face go blank.
He should have known trying to play a waiting game with Kaeya Alberich-Ragnvindr was futile.
Caelus heaved a breath then swallowed, combing a hand through his unruly sweat-dampened hair. “I’m sorry that I didn’t come down for dinner, dad..”
“Oh,” Kaeya gasped, rolling the coin between his fingers. Gold peeking between his knuckles then slipping away whilst he mused aloud. “No worries, I was simply concerned that the leftovers Noelle set aside would have gone to waste..” He drummed his fingers against the hoarfrost slit. Ice melting beneath his fingertips while he breathed a sigh as if he were beside himself with relief. “Then to my delight, I went to the kitchens and found them missing…” He let the words roll off his tongue as the star in his eye fell upon Caelus’ head like the guillotine’s blade against a guilty man’s neck. His words gathered their tension in the air between them. “Considering we try not to waste, I can only hope they went to good use.”
Shame buried hot in Caelus’ stomach and he made a mental note to relieve Noelle of her kitchen duties for the next few days. Perhaps trek up to Starsnatch Cliff and bring her a few vallberries, secretly of course. She wouldn’t accept them otherwise and he was wretched at accepting praise. Unable to meet his father’s eye, Caelus turned his sword over in his palm and stewed in his thoughts. Red hair fell down the sides of his face in a curtain hopefully keeping the flush in his cheeks from view. He hated how despite his darker complexion, his freckled skin would betray him endlessly.
A cool touch to his shoulder jolted him out of his thoughts and almost into a hostile stance until he realized his father was standing in front of him. Lifting his chin, Caelus tried to meet his gaze. His father’s face was relaxed, eyebrows slightly raised while his narrowed eye pinched at the corner with concern. His gloveless knuckles dragged smoothly along the underside of Caelus’ chin, coaxing him to tip his head up further til his father cupped his cheek. Familiar gestures aside, recognizing a lack of anger unwound shame’s knot in his lungs and Caelus found he could breathe again.
He dropped his sword with a twinge of annoyance at such a rookie mistake but cared less about it as he slipped his arms around his father’s waist, burying his face against his chest. He could hear the funneling of air as his chest swelled with a deep inhale then deflated with a sigh. Hand slipping from his cheek into his hair where he combed finger paths, sweat cooling beneath his father’s fingertips.
“I didn’t mean to argue with papa,” Caelus mumbled, peeking up puzzledly when his father gave a bellyful laugh.
“Oh, my little lion..”
His father stared down at him, the azure star almost lost in the shade of his bangs yet he could see it and feel how his father looked right through him. Tapping a single finger along the shell of his ear then combing his hair back from his forehead in one fluid movement, dropping a kiss against his crown.
“Come, it’s early and we are going to relieve Noelle of her breakfast duties.”
Found out, there was nothing Caelus could do but nod. His father patted his shoulder then brushed past him, allowing him to gather himself in the void left by his presence. Setting his training sword aside, Caelus glanced back at the dummy then held out his hand. The water dripping from its straw solidified then beckoned to his call, lifting in the air then stretching out into thin, translucent needles. He curled his fingers and watched as they sharpened to a point, shimmering in the early dawnlight scarcely peeking through the chamber’s high windows. With a flick of his wrist, they shot toward the dummy and pierced its stomach, chest and head.
He smirked a little, satisfied with his handiwork.
“Aim for the heart next time.”
Looking over his shoulder at his father leant against the doorframe, a knowing look in his eye and a smile on his lips. He dipped around the corner smoothly, the sound of his whistling carrying down the hall and Caelus huffed. Tossing his hair over his shoulder with a flick of his head then following after him, ignoring the water vapors hissing behind him.